DETROIT — When the Bad News Giants conduct their players-only meeting Monday, after they look themselves in the mirror and do the obligatory soul-searching that 2-6 teams are forced to do, to a man they should apologize to Daniel Jones at the end of it.
We witnessed what may very well define the essence of Daniel Jones, the unblinking, unflinching gladiator quarterback who deserved better than this unacceptable 31-26 defeat.
He threw for 322 yards and four TDs, never stopped giving his team a chance to win on a day when so many of his teammates, especially on the other side of the ball, never stopped giving their team a chance to lose.
Jones’ voice boomed in the huddle above Ford Field’s raging din, a battlefield commander attempting to storm the beach seemingly against all odds and at any and every cost.
“I didn’t do enough to help us win,” Daniel Jones said.
This is exactly what you want to hear, what a team needs to hear from its quarterback, young or old. And the thing with this kid is he means it.
“I played fine at times,” he said. “We moved the ball up and down the field. As an offense, we’re confident we can do that against anyone.
Daniel Jones is sacked during the third quarter of the Giants’ loss to the Lions on Sunday.Getty Images“But like I said, I didn’t do enough, and I think that’s my biggest takeaway.”
His worst moment was a giveaway in the first quarter, when he tried throwing to Barkley and had his arm hit by Jarrad Davis, and the ball rolled to his right and behind him, and Devon Kennard, one of several former Giants on the Lions, scooped and scored on a 13-yard TD.
“Gotta protect the ball in those situations. Can’t afford to do that,” Jones said.
Barkley, standing nearby, couldn’t afford to watch Kennard scoop and score.
“That’s not who I am, that’s not the type of player I am, that’s not the reason why I’m captain. I gotta have better effort on that play. I gotta be better for my team,” Barkley said.
The hole became 14-0 when Matthew Stafford began torching the Big Blue secondary, and this is when Jones tried to lift everyone on his shoulders.
“He didn’t blink, he didn’t flinch at all,” Barkley said. “He just kept going. We saw a lot of growth from him today in the huddle as a leader.”
For starters, Jones hit trusted rookie wide receiver Darius Slayton, who can high-point the ball and make contested catches, with a pair of touchdowns that made it Lions 14, Giants 13.
“He’s a tough dude, man, tough guy,” Jon Halapio told The Post. “He’s in there playing like a veteran, taking control. When bad plays happen, he doesn’t fold under pressure. I love blocking for him. We all do.”
This wasn’t quite like Eli Manning in that 2011 NFC Championship in San Francisco, but Jones displayed that kind of courage.
“The guy just hangs in the pocket,” Halapio said. “There was a couple of times where he threw a touchdown right behind my ear. Nothing scares him. He’s not frantic to get out of the pocket. He knows he can move well, he knows he can gain yards with his feet, but he just hangs in there. He’s a tough dude.”
But overcoming the folly around him was Mission Impossible:
- A roughing the punter penalty against David Mayo gifted the Lions three points.
- A flea-flicker that burned Antoine Bethea became a 41-yard Kenny Golladay TD.
- Pat Shurmur tried an unsuccessful two-point conversion down five following Jones’ 2-yard TD toss to Evan Engram with 4:54 left in the third quarter. Jones tried for Slayton.
“Just a missed throw,” Jones said. “He was open in the back of the end zone.”
It came back to haunt Shurmur, naturally, when he could not attempt a chippie field goal with 3:31 left because he trailed 31-19 instead of 31-20. “I think the math played into that the right way,” Shurmur said.
Huh? Jones threw incomplete to Slayton on third-and-11 and fourth-and-11 from the Detroit 14. Slayton was rightfully upset that Mike Ford was not penalized on the third-and-11.
“I feel like the DB got there a little early on third [down],” Slayton said.
Jones threw 41 times, didn’t throw an interception, wisely targeted Barkley (eight catches, 79 yards) 10 times. He pounced on his own fumble once. One lousy ball-security issue. “It wasn’t his fault, he got f–king hit. … I apologize. That was very unprofessional,” Shurmur snapped.
The only saving grace to this season is that the Giants have a very professional young quarterback who will have a chance to be special if everything crumbling around him does not sap his will.
“I’ve been trying to learn as quick as I can, trying to not repeat mistakes and learn from each of those opportunities,” Jones said. “I think I have learned and made some progress, but you gotta continue to build on that and keep doing it.”
He deserved better. He deserves apologies.
For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast:
